Speaking OutSna Jtz'ibajom's dramatic encounter with Maya
workers in the United States.

Parts of Mexico have industry, technology, and other signs of
progress, but Chiapas remains a poor agricultural state, the poorest
in the country, and one of the poorest regions in the world. People
are destitute. There are few opportunities for finding work and, since
the North American Free Trade Agreement, our native corn is being displaced
by hybrid corn imported from the United States. Industrial corn is only
good for feeding pigs. It has no soul, like our corn that was a gift
from the gods. Their corn is cheaper, and now we cant count on
a local market where we can sell our harvest. Because of this, many
of our countrymen have to emigrate to the U.S. in search of jobs. They
think that migrant work will be better than starving or suffering under
the military oppression that has followed the Zapatista Rebellion.

--Xun Teratol

A few months after the Zapatista Uprising of 1994, Florida Rural Legal
Services invited Sna Jtzibajom to perform in Immokalee, Florida,
a small agricultural town in the Everglades. There, 30,000 undocumented
workers from Mexico, Guatemala, and Haiti pick tomatoes, chili peppers,
and oranges.

When we mounted DE TODOS PARA TODOS
(FROM ALL FOR ALL) in 1994, we dedicated it to the memory of our countrymen
who fell in ancient and recent wars in Chiapas, struggling against the
same social,economic, political, and cultural conditions that we have
endured for over 508 years. The play reflects our beliefs and convictions
about the causes of the Zapatista movement, which surprised the entire
world with its armed uprising.

--Tziak Tzapat Tzit

After we presented DE TODOS PARA TODOS, the audience asked us
why the Zapatistas took up arms. Because there is so much corruption,
and thats no lie, we told them. The EZLN represents the
best values and the hope for justice with dignity for native people,
not only in Chiapas but in all of Mexico. They have no other way to
be heard with respect than to follow the armed path.

--Cristóbal Tzit Nujkul

As soon as we arrived in Immokalee, the workers surrounded us,
and we asked them about the problems facing them. Many were poor Mayas
who either had no work or were paid starvation wages in their own countries.
They told us of their suffering, which was almost as bad as the abuses
they have experienced here.

--Xun Teratol

We suffer a lot to get here, because we came as wetbacks. We
have to cross deserts, hide in sewer drains, because if the immigration
officers see us, they send us back where we came from. They look for
us on horseback, on motorcycles, with airplanes, with dogs. When a plane
passes over, we cut down a tree and hide under it or we use the tree
as an umbrella.